


mend the cracks with gold

by spideynamu



Series: irondad bingo: halloween edition [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Panic Attacks, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, if that makes you uncomfortable pls be careful
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-13 18:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21002519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideynamu/pseuds/spideynamu
Summary: Everywhere he went inside that Compound, the ghosts were always lingering, taunting him.(bingo prompt: ghosts)





	mend the cracks with gold

**Author's Note:**

> i want to give tony stark the biggest hug send tweet. 
> 
> the title is based off the art of kintsugi — it’s a japanese art based on mending pottery with lacquer and powdered gold and it’s absolutely gorgeous.

The Avengers Compound was a beautiful sight on the outside — the sleek design, futuristic architecture, carefully constructed to house its residents.

Or rather, its past residents.

After the airport, after Siberia, after the Civil War as the media had dubbed it, the Avengers disassembled.

On the outside, the facility was smooth, gorgeous, unblemished. But when Tony walked inside, all he saw were ghosts, always lingering, as if to taunt him.

He walked into the common room, footsteps echoing against the floor, it was too quiet.

His hands were shaking as he picked up a sheet of paper that had slipped under the couch, barely visible in the white rug.

A half-finished sketch was penciled on paper, never to be completed.

His chest tightened, and suddenly he was back in that bunker in Siberia, a shield—a symbol of protection—slamming down on his arc reactor.

Betrayal stung his chest, he knew, he knew and yet he never told him.

He gasped for air, he wasn’t there anymore.

Tony knew he didn’t have to do this, he didn’t have to clean the place himself, hell he could pay people to do it for him.

But he did it anyway, exhaling a shaky breath before he continued his inspection of the Compound.

Vision’s room was empty when he walked past it—Tony wouldn’t be surprised if he was somewhere with Wanda.

_I became distracted._

Rhodey, his best friend, his brother, couldn’t walk because of him. 

Maybe if he hadn’t left Wanda with Vision practically locked away, maybe it’d turn out a little different and Rhodey wouldn’t be paralyzed.

And that thought stung Tony, something bitter settling itself into his heart.

He slowed when he passed Nat’s room.

_Are you incapable of letting go of your god damn ego for one second?_

Couldn’t she see that’s what he tried, and still trying to do? To keep her team, her family, together.

_I’m not the one who needs to watch their back._

It wouldn’t matter now, nothing mattered now, it didn’t matter because who was gonna watch Tony Stark’s back now?

He saw the damage Wanda had done to the floors, and he couldn’t help but wince.

_A broken shield, aliens invading, the carnage all over the rocky floor._

_His teammates lying lifeless, he flinched when Steve reached out to him._

_“You.. could’ve.. saved us.”_

Clint has a family, he was retired, but Tony couldn’t blame him for choosing their side—it was his fault.

_“You gotta watch your back with this guy,” his hands slammed on the cell, “he’s gonna break it.”_

He hadn’t even known the Lang guy, and yet he still had an agenda against him—welcome to the club then, he did too.

_Hank Pym always said you can never trust a Stark._

Tony had never even met the man, his dear old dad made sure of that.

He hadn’t really known Sam that well, they were on the same team but never on the same page.

_You go alone and as a friend._

He went alone, and he had gone as a friend as he told him. But then that video played, his mom’s last few minutes taken by a man standing a few feet away from him.

Tony found the last remaining stashes of gummy worms Clint had hidden during his monthly visits because he missed everyone too much not to visit.

He found Natasha’s old Widow Bites and whatever Vision had been making in the kitchen before he left.

Would Vision even be staying here any longer?

Every single one of Steve’s drawings were recycled, the shield he dropped on the stone floor still thrown somewhere in his lab.

Tony found every last piece of the Avengers he could see in his line of vision, recycled what he could and stored away the rest.

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were no more.  
__

The first time Peter went to the Avengers Compound, he didn’t have time to look around because he was turning down Mr. Stark’s offer to become an Avenger, which was only a test.

Or at least that’s what he thought until he heard the announcement of Mr. Stark’s and Miss Potts’ engagement.

The next time Peter went to the Avengers Compound was the weekend after May had found out about him being Spider-Man.

She was mad at first, mostly at Mr. Stark, and Peter felt so bad when he saw how guilty he looked and just _not_ Tony Stark.

And then she had eventually grown to accept it, eyes softening when Peter told her the reason why he started moonlighting as a vigilante in the first place.

After that, he was sent straight to Ned’s place while she and Mr. Stark talked out a schedule for him.

Man, he really hoped Mr. Stark didn’t have to eat anything she cooked again.

When Peter walked into the living quarters of the Compound, the first thing he noticed was how empty the place was.

There was the standard furniture and whatever you’d have in a living room but it was just so empty, as if no one had lived there for a long time.

The room was quiet, and it was kind of eerie to him, how could a place be so sad?

But before he could think about it any longer, someone cleared their throat, interrupting the silence.

“Hey, kid, the lab is this way,” Mr. Stark gestured, and Peter nodded excitedly, already forgetting about the room.

“Of course, Mr. Stark, wow—this is so cool, thank you!”

Mr. Stark gave him a small smile, but Peter noticed the way it didn’t really reach his eyes, and just overall strained.

But it wasn’t his place to say anything, so he didn’t comment.

When Peter walked into the lab, his jaw dropped. Ned would have fainted if had seen Tony Stark’s lab, it was so amazing!

“Okay, Spidey, any ideas for upgrades for your suit?”

Peter gave him a tentative smile, “Um, the suit’s amazing, Mr. Stark—but I think the webshooters could be a bit improved?”

Mr. Stark nodded, before pulling up some designs and woah, those were his webshooters.

“Alright, Pete, what’s wrong with them?”

Wrong? Maybe a few adjustments but _wrong?_

“Nothing’s wrong! Just—they get jammed sometimes y’know, and sometimes I don’t even realize until I accidentally slam into a building but, eh,” he shrugged, missing the way Tony flinched at his admission.

“Okay,” he nodded, he beckoned for Peter to get a better look at the schematics, “how do you think we could improve it?”

Peter looked at the webshooters, carefully examining each detail before finding what he was looking for.

He’d never use holograms before, but Mr. Stark always made it look easy enough, so he used his fingers and zoomed in, not noticing the surprise on Tony’s face.

(He’d later find out that they only taught those courses for holograms at MIT.)

“Over there, I think the original design’s fine, but the little tube where my webbing flies out, they jam sometimes,” Peter paused, “maybe it’s something to do with air, I haven’t been able to test it yet.”

And then Peter realized that he just criticized Tony Stark, he looked up at the man, absolutely horrified.

But Mr. Stark didn’t look offended at all, actually he was smiling.

“Geez, kid I should’ve noticed that, make a man feel old why don’t ya?” he smiled, and this time it was actually a smile.

Peter smiled back, “I don’t need to make you feel old Mr. Stark, you’re just _old.”_

He slapped his hand over his mouth, why did he say that, he disrespected Iron Man holy shit.

But then Mr. Stark was laughing—it only lasted for like two seconds but it was there.

Peter decided Mr. Stark needed to laugh more often.  
__

The second visit turned to the third and then the fourth and by now they already had their own schedule.

Peter’s curfew for Spider-Man was 11 on weekdays, but he had to finish all his homework first or it’d be shortened to 10.

On weekends he was allowed out until 12 and Karen was scheduled to remind him 15 minutes beforehand if he was going to be late.

On Friday, Happy would drive him up to the Compound to work in the lab with Mr. Stark and sometimes he’d spend the weekend to train if May was out on a work trip and no one was home.

When Peter walked into the lab, it was pitch black, DUM-E’s usual greeting for him was beeped in a sad tone, and the room was completely empty.

“Hello?”

Weird, no one was here.

“FRI, where’s Mr. Stark?” he asked as he searched the hallway, nearly tripping over his history books he left last week.

“Boss, is currently in the training room, Peter,” she paused, “he requests that he remains alone at the moment.”

Peter frowned, had something happened to him, was he hurt?

He absentmindedly grabbed an apple from the fruit basket Mr. Stark had jokingly got because _Spider-Baby needs food to get taller, shortstack._

Peter told him he was almost as tall as him that day and Tony retaliated by throwing an apple at his head.

Usually, Peter would’ve listened to FRIDAY, but something just seemed wrong. And when Peter listened carefully he could make out the sound of someone crying.

He knew that voice though, it was Mr. Stark! Peter dashed out of the kitchen, running towards the training room.

When he saw Mr. Stark, he was hunched over on the ground, chest heaving, his heart racing in Peter’s ears, and off to the side was Captain America’s shield.

“Mr. Stark? Mr. Stark!” Peter called out frantically, but he didn’t seem to hear him.

Peter knew what this was, it was a panic attack—after that whole ordeal with the building he couldn’t stand to be near them.

He always felt like he couldn’t breathe, lungs crushed by the rubble as he yelled for help.

But he’d never dealt with anyone else’s panic attacks before, he didn’t know what to do, what if he hurt Mr. Stark even more?

“FRI, what do—what do I do, please?” he whispered, trying his best to steady his voice.

“I suggest you carefully make your way towards, Boss, and simply tell him about your day, Peter,” the AI paused, “I believe hearing your voice will help him.”

Peter gawked, before shaking his head because Mr. Stark needed his help _right now._

He walked towards the man, making sure he was in his line of vision so he wouldn’t startle him before sitting down on the floor.

“Um, hey Mr. Stark, FRI said I should do this, don’t know why but I passed my Spanish quiz today! Thanks for helping me study by the way,” he rambled, “Ned said something funny today too, oh and there’s this new movie I want to watch and—”

Peter stopped when he felt a hand tightly grab his own, a soft smile on his mentor’s face, “Thanks, kid.”

“Yeah, of course, you’d do the same for me Mr. Stark,” he hesitated, he knew it wasn’t right to ask someone something personal but he wanted to help Mr. Stark too.

“Um, what—what happened?”

Tony’s pained smile returned to his face, but he slowly sat up, sending a look to the shield Peter couldn’t identify.

“The Avengers, you know what happened right?” he started and Peter nodded, “we—well, for lack of a better word—broke up, it’s like that one band you youngsters like, uh One Direction was it?”

Peter snorted but he didn’t say anything, opting to listen to him instead.

“Bunch of shit happened, kiddo, I’m trying to fix it, but work’s slow,” he shrugged, eyes straying to the shield again.

Peter’s eyes widened when he saw the panic on Mr. Stark’s usually relaxed face, and he knew he had to get rid of it now.

He quickly snatched the shield, running over to the nearest storage supply closet and throwing it in there, satisfied at the small _clang_ he heard.

Tony sent him a grateful look, a softer, appreciative smile on his face, “What movie did you wanna watch, kiddie?”

Peter grinned, already telling Tony about the trailers he’d seen for the movie.  
__

The outside of the Avengers Compound was the same as always, except for the skid marks on the grass because a spider had been swinging too low.

The old sketches and half-finished drawings once placed on the tables were replaced by notes that Peter left, his sharp, small handwriting and smiley faces always brightening the room.

_Make sure to eat, Mr. Stark!! :)_

_May says if you don’t eat, she’ll make her date loaf and we know about the date loaf :/_

_Mr. Stark, there’s no more Lucky Charms and have a good day! — Peter_

_Sorry for the mess, Mr. Stark, May wanted me home ASAP — Love, Peter :)_

He knew Rhodey would tease him for keeping his kid’s notes, but wasn’t that what parents did?

When Rhodey came over next weekend, it was 2 in the morning and both Tony and Peter were snuggled on the couch, eyes wide as they watched whatever movie was playing on screen.

“Tones? And uh, _child?”_

Peter and Tony jumped, Tony instinctively shielded Peter behind him while Peter snatched something from the table.

Rhodey looked at them, unimpressed as they dropped their defensive stance.

“Platypus, you scared him,” Tony scolded, as if the fact he was _watching a movie with a child was normal._

“Hey, it’s not his fault, Mr. Stark, besides Ned’s gonna flip when I tell Mr. Colonel Rhodes scared me!”

Tony rolled his eyes, ruffling Peter’s hair while he sent him an indignant look, already leaning back into his side.

“Tony, man, you have a kid?”

Tony had the audacity to look confused, what the actual fuck? 

“Well, kinda, um,” he stopped, looking at Peter first and Peter nodded, “he’s Spider-Man, remember him, I’m mentoring him now.”

Rhodey stared at him, “Does mentoring mean watching movies at 2 in the morning too?”

All he got in response was a pillow to the face, Peter giggling and okay, he basically had a nephew now.

The empty rooms of his ex-teammates never bothered him as much anymore.

Natasha’s room was still left as it was, the door kept shut so he wouldn’t have to look inside. 

He never bothered to even look at Vision’s room anymore—he’d already left when Wanda left.

Everyone else’s room was cleaned out — maybe he’d make one into a little game room for Peter and his two nerd friends.

Pepper said he was whipped when he suggested it to her, and Tony just shrugged, she wasn’t necessarily wrong.

The first time Pepper actually met Peter was during one of their lab days, or it should’ve been a lab day, but then Peter had stumbled across the piano.

Tony hadn’t touched a piano since his mom had died, but then Peter asked him to teach him. 

And maybe this was what his mom meant when she wanted him to learn so he could play for her grandchildren someday.

He taught Peter the first song his mom had taught him, an Italian lullaby she sang to him whenever she could.

“Okay, kid, this one’s pretty simple,” he cleared his throat, “it’s called Fa la Ninna, my mom taught me it.”

Peter nodded, gently squeezing Tony’s trembling hand and he sent him a grateful smile. 

He carefully played the right hand, watching proudly as Peter caught on, stumbling a little but eventually he memorized it.

After Tony had taught him the left hand, Peter suddenly turned around, looking at someone.

Pepper was looking at them, her blue eyes soft as she watched the scene. Peter sent her a small wave, his eyes wide with awe and Tony could’ve sworn he heard him say _oh my god, that’s Pepper Potts._

Tony smiled at her, “This is Peter, Pep,” he ruffled Peter’s hair, “and this is my lovely fiancée, kid, Pep, come say hi to the bane of my existence.”

Peter rolled his eyes, hiding the smile on his face as he started playing the notes again.

“Hi Miss Potts, this is so cool,” he started, “it’s nice to meet you.”

Pepper smiled at him and Tony already knew Peter had stolen her heart too.

When Tony looked at the Compound now, there wasn’t any of the ghosts that had haunted him for months.

Peter’s textbooks littered the floor, a small pile of Legos—unfortunately he’d learnt of their existence when he stopped on them—covered the carpet.

His school sweatshirt was draped over a chair, the couch covered in blankets because spiders can't thermoregulate.

Rhodey had left one of his Air Force uniforms after unsuccessfully trying to persuade Peter to join because no, the kid was legally banned because he said so.

One of Pepper’s cooking books was left open on the kitchen counter, where her and May had been trying to cook.

Happy’s shoe was webbed to the ceiling after he told Peter that’d he spray him with bug spray.

_Spiders are arachnids, Happy, stop being so uncultured!_

And now Tony sat on the couch with Peter, his hand carding through his hair as they watched Aliens.

In the background he could hear May and Pepper laughing over something, while Happy complained to Rhodey about his shoe.

“Thanks, kid,” he whispered softly, “love you, Pete.”

Peter blinked at him, Bambi eyes full of warmth and wow they were deadly, his heart was practically melting.

“Love you too, Mr. Stark.”

The Avengers had left cracks in Tony’s heart, but his family had mended the breaks with gold.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are highly appreciated!
> 
> reviews and criticism are appreciated as well.
> 
> thank you so much for reading <3000


End file.
